Judicial committee clears state senator, judge in nomination flap

State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex) says the claim he pressured judges to secure a nomination was not only false, it was a political attack by Democratic rivals.Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger

TRENTON — A state judicial committee today dismissed allegations state Sen. Kevin O’Toole pressured Superior Court judges in an attempt to secure former Attorney General Paula Dow’s nomination to the bench.

The decision immediately set off another battle between state senators from Essex County, with Republican O’Toole charging the three Democrats who made the accusation — Richard Codey, Nia Gill and Ronald Rice — were playing politics.

"For them to stoop this low, I think it’s almost criminal," O’Toole said, adding that he’s weighing legal action. "It’s despicable — they should be ashamed of themselves."

O’Toole said he and a state judge caught up in the fracas should get a public apology from the three senators.

But the Democrats would not back down, refusing to apologize and saying their actions were by-the-book. Codey even said he still believes O’Toole might have done something wrong, despite what the inquiry found.

"I’m saying that it is inappropriate," Codey said. "Totally."

In dismissing the grievance, the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct said it found no evidence of impropriety when O’Toole discussed the renominations of two judges with Patricia Costello, the assignment judge for Essex County. The state Office of Attorney Ethics — which looked into the matter because O’Toole is a lawyer — agreed.

The inquiry was launched after a letter was sent to Chief Justice Stuart Rabner by Codey, Gill and Rice claiming the judges, then facing renomination, were told Gov. Chris Christie would "end their judicial careers" if they didn’t convince Gill to sign off on the governor’s nominee. The letter did not identify O’Toole or the others allegedly involved, but sources later revealed their names to The Star-Ledger.

The committee said there was a telephone call between O’Toole and Costello, during which they discussed several judges "whose nominations for reappointment were in jeopardy."

"The mere fact that this telephone call occurred, however, is not itself evidence of judicial impropriety, but rather consistent with the past and present practice" for reappointments, the report said.

The committee found Costello met with the two judges and their superiors, but it said there was no evidence she said their reappointments were "dependent upon their ability to convince Senator Gill to ‘sign off’ on a particular judicial nominee."

Codey said it still seems inappropriate that O’Toole had a conversation with an assigning judge.

"He should not be making those phone calls, plain and simple. He knows it. I know it," Codey said. "And, more importantly, what did he say that made (Costello) have this meeting with those judges?"

Gill said she never identified O’Toole publicly and the claims were handled properly. "We sent a letter to the chief justice," she said. "We followed the procedures."

The feud is nothing new for the Essex County delegation, which has been warring over judicial nominations for more than a year. A total of 21 of 55 judgeships are now vacant.

Costello said in a statement she was grateful the committee found no misconduct. "Now that the issue is closed, I am hopeful that the executive and legislative branches will continue to work toward a resolution of the judicial vacancies in Essex," she said.